Life satisfaction and quality in Korean War veterans five decades after the war

Background: Military service is considered to be a hidden variable underlying current knowledge about wellbeing in the elderly. This study aimed to examine life satisfaction and quality of life in Australia's surviving male Korean War veterans and a community comparison group, and to investigate any association with war deployment-related factors. Methods: Participants completed a postal questionnaire which included the Life Satisfaction Scale, the brief World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref) questionnaire and the Combat Exposure Scale. Results: Korean War veterans reported significantly lower Percentage Life Satisfaction (PLS) and quality of life scores on four WHOQOL-Bref domains, compared with similarly aged Australian men (each p value